Gaza: Three-day ceasefire begins as Israel and Hamas head to Egypt for further talks

A 72-hour truce began at 5am this morning, following a proposal put forward by America and the United Nations

Conflict: An Israeli strike on Gaza City earlier this week, before a 72-hour truce was announced

A three-day ceasefire between Israel and Palestinian militant groups has come into effect in Gaza this morning, with negotiators on their way to Egypt to discuss a longer-term solution.

After more than three weeks of fighting, the 72-hour truce began at 5am GMT after being announced by US Secretary of State John Kerry and UN Secretary-General Ban Ki-moon.

Israel said it had accepted the US/UN proposal, and a spokesman for Hamas said all Palestinian factions would abide by the truce.

In a statement, Kerry and Ban said: "We urge all parties to act with restraint until this humanitarian ceasefire begins, and to fully abide by their commitments during the ceasefire."

"This ceasefire is critical to giving innocent civilians a much-needed reprieve from violence."

Hours before the ceasefire was announced Israeli Prime Minister Benjamin Netanyahu, facing international alarm over a rising civilian death toll in Gaza, said he would not accept any truce that stopped Israel from completing the destruction of militants’ infiltration tunnels.

According to the Kerry and Ban statement, forces on the ground would remain in place during the ceasefire.

Meanwhile, Israel and Palestinian delegations will travel to Cairo for separate negotiations to reach a more durable ceasefire.

The Palestinian delegation will be comprised of Hamas, Western-backed Fatah, the Islamic Jihad militant group and a number of smaller factions, Palestinian officials said.

A senior US State Department official said talks could start as early as today.

Just over an hour before the ceasefire was due to take effect militants fired 11 rockets into Israel, one of which was intercepted by the Iron Dome defence system over the centre of the country, a military spokeswoman said.

Israeli strikes killed 14 people in Gaza, including eight from one family, hospital officials said.

Earlier, Hamas rockets set off sirens in the Tel Aviv area and one was intercepted.

Israel’s military said five of its soldiers were killed late on Thursday by a mortar bomb.

Israel launched its offensive in Gaza on July 8 in response to a surge of cross-border rocket attacks.